Freemuse Project Manager – Small Changes Project

Freemuse (www.freemuse.org) is an international human rights organisation defending artistic freedom. Freemuse has UN ECOSOC consultative status and is generally regarded by the UN, international organisations and partners as the world’s leading NGO in the field of freedom of artistic expression and creativity. Freemuse monitors and documents violations of artistic freedom and expose laws and policies that enable and sustain these violations. We leverage evidence-based advocacy for systemic structural changes at the international, regional and national levels working with partners, artists, and activists in the global south and north. Freemuse campaigns for and supports individual artists, focusing on women artists at the international and national levels. We facilitate and grow locally owned national coalitions to defend artistic freedom and support their campaign and capacity building.

The Small Changes Project

Small changes: creating cultural spaces is aimed at expanding cultural spaces by making available platforms, tools, and resources for independent and creative minds to step forward and use culture and art to engage with what is going on in the world. In Lebanon, Tunisia, and Jordan a call for proposal for individual small changes project will be published: the participants will have 6 months and a small contribution to deliver their projects. In addition to create tangible spaces within civil society for artistic and cultural expression our project also aims at creating meaningful partnerships with local, grassroot organizations to enrich and expand research and monitoring to further expose violations of artistic freedom, and at engaging policymakers and decision-makers to create dialogues between actions within civil society to gain further investment in the arts and culture sector.

Main Responsibilities

• Set up and manage the small changes project: including implement the project as planned, develop clear workplan with timelines, problem solving, manage the project team, ensure compliance with the donor contract, and produce clear narrative and financial reports.

• Ensure an open, competitive, and transparent re-granting process, ensure on-time financial transfer, and set up a system to monitor the 15 small changes projects.
• Partnerships and external relations: Working with the project team and other secretariat staff on identifying, developing and formalising key partnerships and relationships for project implementation; setting up and manage a project selection committee, facilitating external relations with relevant stakeholders; convening high-level project and stakeholder meetings as required.
• Ongoing communication and engagement with the artistic freedom community, including donors, academics, intergovernmental organisations, governments, civil society organisations and participants to ensure and strengthen project learning, relevance, and impact. Management of the project dedicated subsite/platform in close consultation with Communication team. 
• Financial management and reporting: Tracking and coordinating financial information of the project, managing expenditure tracking, and ensuring compliance with the donor’s Financial Principles, value for money, and key performance indicators. Responsible for ensuring on time and on quality reporting on project delivery against plan
• Planning and performance support: Providing guidance, managing and support to project team for planning, delivery, and reporting; co-ordinating with key internal support teams; maintaining an overview of output delivery and flagging any risks to the Executive Director and Programme Manager.
• Contribute to business development processes: Identification of new opportunities/donors in close cooperation with the Programme and Development Manager, to ensure the continuation of the project after this current funding. Liaise with Secretariat and participate in the process of the preparation of bids and proposals, developing budgets and tailoring technical documentation.
• Liaise with our research team, on the monitoring, and documenting developments of related laws, policy, practices, and violations of artistic freedom in the target countries.
• Strategic communications and knowledge management: Coordinating the development and functioning of internal and external communications systems and ensure their consistency with existing systems as developed by the Secretariat, networks, website, etc. to ensure strong internal and external relationships; managing activities and supporting teams to promote project output dissemination and uptake, with input from colleagues in the communications team.
• Ensuring that online trainings and events are held smoothly in close collaboration with Freemuse secretariat and project assistant, from beginning to end.

Skills and Competency

Required

• At least four years proven experience of coordinating human rights and/or cultural projects in one of the target countries (Jordan, Lebanon, or Tunisia)
• Relevant qualifications in project management.

• Excellent and proven managerial, organisational, leadership and teamwork skills.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English and Arabic
• Willingness to travel and work at flexible hours to meet deadlines
• Proficient computer skills especially Microsoft and SharePoint.
• Good understanding of issues related to freedom of expression, arts, and culture

Desirable Skills

• Good working knowledge of French
• Experience of working across distributed teams
• Experience of working on funded projects 
• Familiarity in facilitating interactions in communications platforms and use of social media